Feature: 12-year-old girl Yu Zidi writes summer fairytale at World Aquatics Championships

by sportswriters Li Jia and Zhou Xin

SINGAPORE, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese swimmer Yu Zidi's summer was nothing short of a fairytale. At just twelve years old, she not only made waves at the World Aquatics Championships in Singapore, but also made history as the youngest medalist ever at the event.

Before arriving at the Singapore Worlds, Yu had been imagining what the competition would be like. Standing at the edge of the world championships pool for the first time, she felt a surge of excitement.

"The world championships are much more intense than I imagined, and the atmosphere is really great. During warm-up, the pool was very crowded and lively, but I adapted well."

Yu, with her short hair and big eyes, will only turn 13 this October. In May, she qualified for the world championships by meeting the "A" standard in three events at the National Championships, which also served as the world championships trials. This achievement quickly attracted attention from foreign media.

But Yu didn't come just to feel the atmosphere. In the two events she competed in so far, she set personal bests and finished fourth in both. In the women's 200m individual medley, she missed the podium by just 0.06 seconds. Her final 50m freestyle split of 30.17 seconds was especially impressive-only 0.01 seconds slower than the eventual winner, Canadian Olympic champion Summer McIntosh (30.16)-ranking second among the eight finalists. In the 200m butterfly, she was just 0.31 seconds behind the bronze medalist.

Yu was also part of China's women's 4X200m freestyle relay team in the preliminaries. Although she did not swim in the final, she earned a bronze medal under the rules. "This was my first time competing in a team relay, which was even more exciting than individual events. This relay bronze will motivate me to keep working hard. Right after the race, I talked to my family. I want to bring back the medal and mascot to share the joy with them," Yu told Xinhua.

The world championships features top swimmers, including McIntosh and world champion Alex Walsh, but Yu remained calm and confident. "Before I competed, I thought about the coach's reminders. During the race, I followed the coach's instructions and focused on every detail. The coach covered everything, so I just did my best without thinking too much. Also, my teammate Bingjie (Li Bingjie) gave me lots of encouragement."

Yu said competing alongside the top swimmers she once only saw on TV taught her a lot. "I learned a lot. For example, I want to learn McIntosh's turning technique. I take her as a role model and hope to become as excellent as her."

Some foreign swimmers also noticed Yu's performance and didn't hold back their praises. Canadian star Mary-Sophie Harvey, bronze medalist in the women's 200m individual medley, said, "I think it's good for younger people to just get that experience and swim without any pressure, because they don't have expectations - it's just a bonus every time they swim faster."

"She might have more pressure by the end of the meet, because she's been swimming really well so far. I used to be a junior, and I used to think that it's just gaining experience for the future, and I think going into LA, we're probably going to see her a lot more."

American swimmer Walsh, silver medalist in the 200m individual medley, said, "She's obviously phenomenally talented at such a young age, and I think it'll be interesting to see how she takes this meet and translates it into the future swims she has, because she's definitely got a really bright future."

After watching many races at the world championships, Yu said her favorite swimmer is Romanian freestyle star David Popovici, who won the men's 100m and 200m freestyle titles at Singapore. "I watched his race and his post-race interview. I think he swims fast, speaks wisely, and is very talented."

Popovici also praised Yu during the Worlds: "I noticed her. Her 12-year-old times are much faster than mine at that age. When I was 12, I set the national record in the 200m medley, but I was still seven seconds slower than her. She's really fast."

On Sunday, Yu will compete in her last event at the world championships - the women's 400m medley. "I like the 200m, 400m medley, and the 200m butterfly events. But among the four strokes in the medley, my breaststroke still needs improvement."

This young girl from Hebei first encountered swimming by chance at a water park during a hot summer vacation when she was six. Now, she has appeared on headlines at home and abroad. For Yu, the Singapore Worlds is just the beginning. She is already looking forward to the World Championships in Budapest two years from now.

"I want to compete again at the next World Championships, swim against the world's top swimmers again, and try to stand on the podium," Yu said. ■